Love List 2016: Patty Brisben

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Patty Brisben

TITLE: Founder and chairwoman of Pure Romance

HOMETOWN: Cincinnati

WHY WE LOVE HER: Because of her passion for empowering women in and outside of the bedroom.

Let’s talk about sex, baby. Patty Brisben,

Pure Romance founder and chairwoman, created her company more than two decades ago with the goal of empowering women to discuss, explore and learn more about topics of sexuality — and to feel comfortable doing so. Fueled by that passion, Pure Romance has become the leading woman-to-woman direct seller of relationship-enhancement products in the nation.  

“The whole theme of why the company exists is, I wanted to provide a safe environment for women to be able to gather and to be able to ask questions in regard to sexuality,” Brisben says, explaining that she wants women to be able to take their relationships to the next level. Sometimes, she adds, that involves introducing products in the bedroom — something she doesn’t want couples to be afraid to try.

Pure Romance also aims to empower women by giving them the opportunity to own their own business. The company operates through in-home parties hosted by consultants; its product line features everything from beauty products and lingerie to games and bedroom accessories. Online resources are also available for men and women to learn more about sexual health, relationships and business.

When Brisben founded Pure Romance in the basement of her Cincinnati home in 1993, the mother of four packed orders, planned parties and recruited consultants herself. Today, the business has operations across the United States and in Australia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and South Africa. Her family was a constant source of inspiration, Brisben says, and her son Chris Cicchinelli is now the company’s president and CEO. They both love what they do, and that passion nurtures their work, helping Pure Romance continue to grow.

“Passion and love go hand in hand,” Brisben says. “I feel so strongly about providing this environment for women. If you’re not waking up every single day excited about your day, you’re in the wrong job.”

I love the fact that it’s not Groundhog Day every day. I am not a cubicle person; I could never sit in a cube and do a job. I am one of these people who loves the fact that every single day my job is different. Whether I’m addressing consultants, whether I am developing new products, whether we’re doing a new launch, whether we’re doing a webinar… every single day is different, and that’s what I love the most about what I do.

I love that I’ve been able to build a lot of great friendships here. I have a wonderful base of friends that you could call in the middle of the night if you needed to. I couldn’t see myself really living anywhere else. I love the fact that we’re breathing fresh air into Cincinnati with all the new restaurants that are coming up in OTR, and we’re really working on our parks. I just think that we’re doing so much here that if you came to visit our city or were thinking about taking a job here in Cincinnati, to me it would be a win-win situation.

I would have to say my granddaughter Talia. The reason being is if I want to have the best day or the best night of my life, I will call her. She is probably, if I had to look at somebody who would replace me one day, it would be her. She fuels me. … She’s a lot of fun, and I feel like when I’m with her, even though she’s 12, I feel like I’m with a 20-plus-year-old person. She’s amazing.

This is easy for me, and that is to stay a student. I challenge — whether it’s my granddaughter, whether it’s consultants, whether it’s employees — to stay a student, to find something every single day that you will have that “a-ha moment” with or you can say, “Oh my gosh, this is the reason I woke up today, because I learned about this or I want to read more about this.” It’s about constantly staying a student, because if you’re not doing that, you’re not going to grow as a person.

Learn more about PURE ROMANCE at pureromance.com.